Name: The power of the informal economy
Uploaded: 2012-09-05T15:19:58Z
Duration: 12 min 12 s
Description: Robert Neuwirth spent four years among the chaotic stalls of street markets, talking to pushcart hawkers and gray marketers, to study the remarkable "System D," the world's unlicensed economic network. Responsible for some 1.8 billion jobs, it's an economy of underappreciated power and scope.

Robert Neuwirth spent four years among the chaotic stalls of street markets, talking to pushcart hawkers and gray marketers, to study the remarkable "System D," the world's unlicensed economic network. Responsible for some 1.8 billion jobs, it's an economy of underappreciated power and scope.

Robert Neuwirth: The power of the informal economy

The power of the informal economy

Makoko's floating store reveals the ingenuity in Lagos' informal economy, turning lack of infrastructure into opportunity.

Bazaaristan could soon surpass the US as the largest economy, illustrating the power of the informal sector on global scale.

In Lagos, System D fuels a DIY economy where 1.8 billion thrive outside formal sectors, offering a model for global growth.